(ethereal music) (bright music) - Hello and welcome to "Expressions on the Road."

I'm your host, Adara Alston.

In this episode, we are visiting the historic Hill Top Inn, located on Jerusalem Hill Road, overlooking the city of Elmira.

Over the next half hour, we will talk with owner Mike Sullivan about what makes this local business unique and also feature a concert from Irish rock band, Kilrush.

All next on "Expressions On The Road".

(bright music continues) - [Announcer] Funding for this program is provided in part by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(laid-back music) - This was an old summer home that was built here in 1912, owned by two families before my grandparents bought it.

The main dining room is the original dining room to that summer home.

It became this wonderful place with this amazing view of the Allegheny Mountain range that looks over the city of Elmira.

The foothills actually are Pennsylvania.

Two miles as the crow flies to the north is where Mark Twain's study was.

And he looked straight down the Chemung and that inspired him for 22 years, to come and write all these wonderful works that we now celebrate.

My grandparents bought it in 1932 and they bought it, they realized they needed to earn a living somehow.

They were gonna raise a family and they thought that the answer to that in the middle of The Depression was, "Let's invite people into our home and we will feed them."

And, thus, Hill Top Inn was born.

So 1933, we were the twenty-first liquor license in New York State, the first license in Chemung County.

Prohibition ended June 25th, we opened July 3rd.

And so we were the twenty-first liquor license in the state and we're now celebrating 90 years.

One time or another, the other 20 have all gone out of business.

So we are the only, the oldest continuing licensed restaurant since Prohibition in the state.

I came back after graduating from St. Bonaventure University in 1989 with a degree in finance.

My father was a finance guy and he came back to help his father.

And when I came back in November of that year for Thanksgiving, I said, "I'm gonna come back and help run the restaurant."

And he told me no.

He said, "No, you're not."

And I said, "Well, who is?

What's your answer?"

And he made my mother promise, there's a discrepancy here, one says two years, one says three, but somewhere between two and three years was she was had to kick me out.

And here we are 35 years later, and when she gets to heaven, she's got hell to pay.

So why is it Hill Top Inn?

We got fortunate that my grandparents found this and said, "What a great piece of property.

What a great place to raise our family."

And we're just here to make sure that we are good stewards of this land and that we share that with all of our guests that come here.

(bright Irish music) (bright Irish music builds) (bright Irish music builds) (bright Irish music builds) (bright Irish music ends) (crowd cheering) Kilrush is a phenomenal upbeat Irish band that really brought a newer flavor of Irish music to this area.

The energy that they bring is phenomenal they work at it and they enjoy it and they're happy and they bring so much happiness to the crowd that's here.

♪ And it's whiskey, whiskey ♪ ♪ Oh, Nancy, whiskey and it's whiskey, whiskey ♪ ♪ Oh, Nancy, ho ♪ ♪ Whiskey, whiskey, oh, Nancy whiskey ♪ ♪ Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey ♪ - One more time, oh!

♪ Whiskey, whiskey, oh, Nancy whiskey, ♪ ♪ Whiskey, whiskey ♪ - Really enjoy listening to their music because it's a party and they bring the party to you and you can't help but have a good time when they're here.

(upbeat Irish rock music) ♪ Well I love a girl with stars in her eyes ♪ ♪ The moon in her hair, she's my Irish surprise ♪ ♪ You can search all the world and not find one rarer ♪ ♪ Well, it's true she's as wild as the heather ♪ Let go!

(upbeat Irish rock music continues) ♪ Well, the mountain breezes blow ♪ ♪ And the rambling streams will flow ♪ ♪ There's a beauty fair I know ♪ ♪ That makes the heather grow ♪ ♪ And I love a girl with stars in her eyes ♪ ♪ And the moon in her hair, she's my Irish surprise ♪ ♪ You can search all the world and not find one rarer ♪ ♪ Well it's true she's as wild as the heather ♪ Let's go.

♪ Oh the stars that shine at night ♪ ♪ Can only burn as half as bright ♪ ♪ As a glimpse of my love's sigh ♪ ♪ You'd be blinded by the light ♪ ♪ Oh I love a girl with stars in her eyes ♪ ♪ Moon in her hair, she's my Irish surprise ♪ ♪ You can search all the world and not find one rarer ♪ ♪ Well it's true she's as wild as the heather ♪ Let's go.

(vocalizes) ♪ I love a girl with stars in her eyes ♪ ♪ Moon in her hair, she's my Irish surprise ♪ ♪ You can search all the world, you'll not find one rarer ♪ ♪ Well it's true she's as wild as the heather ♪ (upbeat Irish music continues) ♪ With all the creatures made of clay ♪ ♪ And the sirens all that play ♪ ♪ To the angels now we pray ♪ ♪ She's my Irish queen of May ♪ ♪ I know a girl with stars in her eyes ♪ ♪ Moon in her hair, she's my Irish surprise ♪ ♪ Can search all the world and not find one rarer ♪ ♪ Well it's true she's as wild as the heather ♪ ♪ Well I love a girl with stars in her eyes ♪ ♪ The moon in her hair, she's my Irish surprise ♪ ♪ You can search all the world and not find one rarer ♪ ♪ Well it's true she's as wild as the heather ♪ ♪ Wild as the heather ♪ (upbeat Irish rock music ends) (crowd cheering) (festive dance music) - The story of the wreath is a fun one.

My father was bartending one night and a gentleman by the name of Herman Rynveld came and sat at the bar, and he'd been a regular customer.

He had a company in New Albany, Pennsylvania that made Christmas trees and wreaths.

But he came to my father and said, "I'd like to build the world's largest Christmas wreath.

Can I put it on your hill?"

And my father said it took him maybe half a second to say yes.

What we have now is the second version.

The first one was put up in, I believe, 1979 on four telephone poles.

It was 56 feet high, it was 46 feet in diameter.

In 1983, there was a nice windstorm that came through and snapped two of the telephone poles and it became, went from the world's largest Christmas wreath to the world's most expensive Christmas wreath.

And $35,000 later, it was rebuilt, this time with a bow, this time with lights, this time on four steel columns that go 60 feet in the air and probably 12 to 15 feet into the ground with tons and tons of concrete holding it in, with ten one ton guy-wires holding it.

And they said, "If it goes, the whole hill will go."

Proven in 2012 when we had a tornado come through, came right through here, quarter of a mile from the restaurant, took our tent and mangled that, and a few other things, but the wreath stood.

It did not make the Guinness Book of World Records based on a technicality.

We didn't make it to the book.

But the second time that they built it, they also said, "Let's celebrate our Irish heritage."

So inside of it, we have the world's largest shamrock.

And that is lit up the whole month of March to celebrate our Irish heritage.

(somber Irish music) (somber Irish music builds) ♪ True you ride the finest horse I've ever seen ♪ ♪ Standing sixteen one or two with eyes wild and green ♪ ♪ You ride that horse so well hands light to the touch ♪ ♪ I could never go with you no matter how I wanted to ♪ ♪ Ride on, see you ♪ ♪ I could never go with you no matter how I wanted to ♪ ♪ Ride on, see you ♪ ♪ I could never go with you no matter how I wanted to ♪ ♪ When you ride into the night without a trace behind ♪ ♪ Run your claw along my gut, one last time ♪ ♪ I turn to face an empty space, where you used to lie ♪ ♪ And look for a spark that lights the night ♪ ♪ Through a teardrop in my eye ♪ ♪ Ride on, see you ♪ ♪ I could never go with you no matter how I wanted to ♪ ♪ Ride on, see you ♪ ♪ I could never go with you no matter how I wanted to ♪ (somber Irish music builds) (somber Irish music calms) ♪ Ride on, see you ♪ ♪ I could never go with you no matter how I wanted to ♪ (crowd cheering) (playful piano music) - When this was named Hill Top Inn in the thirties, the term inn meant a place of hospitality.

Didn't mean you were staying there necessarily, but a lot of bars and lounges and restaurants were called inns and that's how we got the name, because it's a place of hospitality.

We really have become that place of celebration.

We have our own holidays.

St. Patrick's Day's huge for us.

That really goes to the history of Hill Top.

My grandparents were Irish and we've always celebrated that in a great way.

It's a full day celebration.

- Here we go.

♪ I'm a rambler, a gambler ♪ ♪ I'm a long way from home ♪ ♪ If you don't like me then leave me alone ♪ ♪ I'll eat when I'm hungry ♪ ♪ I'll drink when I'm dry ♪ ♪ If moonshine don't kill me ♪ ♪ I'll live 'til I die ♪ ♪ Yes I go-- ♪ - I think it's important for people to feel appreciated.

We wouldn't have been here 90 years if it wasn't for the support of the local community.

My grandfather, when I was here as a child growing up, would visit every table and really did a great job of ensuring that the guest was being taken care of.

And my father carried that through and it's the only way I know.

So part of what I do also is to try to visit every table when they're here.

♪ I was-- ♪ - This still is that place where you remember moments of your life, when you're celebrating good, bad, indifferent.

Those are the memories of life that we really want to have and that's the legacy that I would hope carries on.

(upbeat rhythmic music) ♪ Threw my shoes in the ocean ♪ ♪ Told my sole that I could play ♪ ♪ Got my eye on the railway ♪ ♪ Try to make me stay ♪ ♪ Oh, the devil has my backpack ♪ ♪ China has my shoes ♪ ♪ I live my life by whiskey ♪ ♪ To keep my mind off you ♪ (frantic Irish rock music) ♪ I'm shippin' out to Boston ♪ ♪ Made my bed in hay ♪ ♪ Joke to joke my Betty, greener pasture's where I lay ♪ ♪ The devil has my backpack, China has my shoes ♪ ♪ I live my life by whiskey to keep my mind off you ♪ ♪ I'll slip it all in the channel ♪ ♪ With every town with tracks ♪ ♪ You see, my friends, don't cry 'cause I ain't coming back ♪ ♪ Well, devil has my backpack, China has my shoes ♪ ♪ I live my life by whiskey to keep in mind off you ♪ (frantic Irish music continues) ♪ You can take my coats and mighty ♪ ♪ When all is said and through ♪ ♪ And bury me in the meadow right there next to you ♪ ♪ 'Cause the devil has my backpack ♪ ♪ China has my shoes ♪ ♪ I live my life by whiskey to keep my mind off you ♪ (frantic Irish music continues) ♪ Oh the devil has my backpack, China has my shoes ♪ ♪ I live my life by whiskey to keep my mind off you ♪ (frantic Irish music continues) (crowd cheers)